BERLIN- Stephen Decatur’s girls’ varsity basketball team got out to a fast start in their first game in the state 3A-East region tournament on Tuesday, withstood a big run by visiting Hammond in the middle and eventually wore down the Bears, 53-37, to advance.
The Seahawks entered the 3A-East Section II tournament as the top seed and earned a first round bye. On Tuesday, Decatur faced Hammond in the second round with a chance to move on in its quest for a potential regional or state championship. Before the game, Dayona Godwin was recognized for scoring her 2,000th career point during last week’s Bayside Conference championship game.
Decatur started strong and ran out to a 15-2 lead by the end of the first quarter and it looked like the Seahawks were going to run away with it. The Bears found their groove in the second quarter and got back into the contest, however. Right off the bat, Hammond nailed a pair of three pointers to cut the lead to 15-8. After a Godwin put-back extended the lead to 17-8, Hammond again connected from behind the arc to cut the lead to 17-11.
After a free throw by Amaya Mumford, Hammond scored a fast-break lay-up to cut the lead to 18-14 and what was once a 13-point lead for the Seahawks had been cut to just four with just under three minutes remaining in the second. A lay-up and a pair of free throws by Mumford extend the lead to 23-16 just before halftime, but the Bears had outscored the Seahawks, 14-8, in the period and the game was far from over.
Mumford scored on a lay-up at the start of the third to extend the lead to 25-16, but Hammond again had the answer. Godwin hit Rachel Florek with a great assist and Florek finished the play to extend the lead to 27-18, but Hammond responded again and cut the lead to 27-20.
It was a pattern repeated often during the third quarter, with Decatur seemingly ready to pull away and Hammond refusing to go down easy. The rough and tumble game got a little chippy in the third with numerous fouls called against the Seahawks, which to the chagrin of the big home crowd. Hammond made most of its free throws during the stretch and hung around in the contest.
Decatur lead 29-21 with around three minutes remaining in the third when Lexie VanKirk scored on a put-back to extend the lead to 10 points at 31-21. Mumford scored on a beautiful turnaround in the paint to extend the lead to 33-21 with just over a minute remaining, but Hammond responded again with a three-pointer to cut the lead to 33-24. Chloe Sass closed out the quarter for Decatur with a jumper from the corner to extend the lead to 35-24 heading into the final period.
The Seahawks opened the fourth with a beautiful fast break with passes from Godwin to VanKirk to Mumford to extend the lead to 37-24. A Godwin lay-up extended the lead to 40-26 with just over five minutes remaining, but Hammond kept going to the free throw line to hang around in the game. Another sparkling fast break with passes from VanKirk to Mumford to Florek extended the lead to 44-30 with just over three minutes left.
A Hammond three-pointer cut the lead to 10 again at 44-34, but Godwin scored on a lay-up to push it back to 46-34 with under two minutes left. With time running down, Hammond was forced to send Decatur to the line and the Seahawks made enough free throws to pull out the 53-37 win in a game much closer than the final score indicated.With the win, Decatur moved on to the sectional final on Thursday against third-seeded Chesapeake in a game played too late to be included in this edition. If the Seahawks won as expected, they would advance to the regional championship game on Saturday.